A few decades after the transition of the galactic musician composer, pianist, and inventive big band leader Sun Ra, he remains somewhat of a mysterious cosmic force, a spirit not in the heavens, but traveling through the galaxy of no time or space.
Ahmed Abdullah has written a fascinating autobiography, “A Strange Celestial Road: My Times in the Sun Ra Arkestra” (2023), a comprehensive journey of his life as it intersects with his Sun Ra experiences, and his joys of being with such an innovator with his human frailties and idiosyncrasies. One in particular: When on the road, Sun Ra inspected each hotel room for vibrations and assigned band members accordingly.
Abdullah is such a descriptive writer; readers hear the group’s six-hour practice sessions at the bandleader’s house in Philadelphia. You are there on his tours around the world. There is no need to pack luggage for your journey from Manhattan’s Bradley’s to Brooklyn’s East to Ronnie Scott’s in London, and as far as Yugoslavia and the motherland of Africa, as you sit within earshot of his many conversations.
“Celestial Road” takes you through the tumultuous 1960s, the defiant revolutionary stance for equality, the Black Power and Black Arts Movements, and when Pan Africanism invaded jazz. He offers political and social perspectives on life as he answers and questions his own journey that eventually leads to spiritual light. He acknowledges the importance of the downtown Loft Jazz Scene that focused on self-determination with instrumental organizations like the Musicians of Brooklyn Initiative (founded by Oliver Lake, Cecil Taylor, and Lester Bowie), the Black Artists Group (BAG), as well as cats on the scene like Arthur Blythe, David Murray, and Muhal Richard Abrams.
We experience real music without categories from a musician’s perspective, sharing creative improvisation, straight-ahead and beyond. When gigs were slow, the trumpeter drove a cab, placing readers in the back seat and feeling life’s bumpy New York City potholes while stopping at every red light. We read his innermost thoughts, from problems with his ladies, both white and Black, to earning a living as a musician, and his children and family.
“A Strange Celestial Road” is an encyclopedic memoir, covering the life of Sun Ra that influenced the Harlem-born musician and generations of artists across a multi-faceted spectrum.
Abdullah began writing this gem with the assistance of Nuyorican poet Louis Reyes Rivera. Posters and photographs from Adger Cowans and Marilyn Nance grace the pages, as well as sprinkles of Sun Ra witticisms.
Detroit native Alex Harding, known for a blazing baritone saxophone, hits Sista’s Place (456 Nostrand Avenue, Bed-Stuy) with his Quartet on Jan. 25 for two shows at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Harding, when not leading his own fiery band, is busy playing as a first-call musician. His 2019 recording “Dark Blue” is a duo, with Harding also playing bass clarinet in dialogue with Romanian pianist Lucian Ban. It’s just the two of them for 11 burning tracks.
In New York, Harding had an opportunity to extend his music perspective by playing with a variety of musicians, including a stint with the genius baritone man Hamiet Bluiett’s baritone sax group, Mingus Big Band, and Sun Ra Arkestra. An October 1997 JazzTimes review of Bluiett’s band said Harding “attacked the music with steamroller momentum and uncommon ferocity.”
For reservations, call 718-398-1766.